Einstein skipped so many math classes that he nearly failed. His friend took notes for him. Years later, when Einstein couldn't finish general relativity, that same friend taught him the math that changed physics forever.
Zurich, late 1890s. The Federal Polytechnic School.
Albert Einstein was a physics student with a problem: he thought most of his advanced math classes were unnecessary. Just theory without practical use.
So he skipped them. A lot of them.
But one student never missed: Marcel Grossmann.
Grossmann was Einstein's classmate and friend—meticulous, disciplined, and brilliant at mathematics. He took detailed, careful notes on everything.
When exam time came, Einstein borrowed Grossmann's notes. They were so good that Einstein passed.
In fact, those notes saved Einstein's academic career.
Years later, Einstein would admit: skipping those classes was a mistake.
But thanks to Grossmann, he got a second chance.
Fast forward to 1912.
Einstein had been working on something revolutionary: extending his special theory of relativity to include gravity.
He'd figured out the physics—space and time weren't flat and fixed. They curved. Mass bent them like a bowling ball on a trampoline.
But there was a problem.
The mathematics needed to describe curved spacetime? Einstein didn't have it.
He'd skipped those classes, remember?
In October 1912, Einstein wrote to physicist Arnold Sommerfeld:
""I am working exclusively on the problem of gravitation, and I think I can overcome all difficulties with the help of a mathematician friend here.""
""But one thing is certain: never before in my life have I worked so hard, and I have gained a tremendous respect for mathematics, whose more subtle aspects I have until now, in my naivety, regarded as pure luxury.""
That ""mathematician friend"" was Marcel Grossmann.
By then, Grossmann was a professor of mathematics at the same Zurich Polytechnic where they'd been students together.
Einstein came to him with a desperate question: What mathematical tools exist that could describe curved, four-dimensional spacetime?
Grossmann caught fire immediately.
He dove into the literature. Within weeks, he had an answer:
Tensor calculus and Riemannian geometry.
These were advanced mathematical frameworks developed by Bernhard Riemann, Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro, and Tullio Levi-Civita.
They were exactly what Einstein needed—ways to mathematically describe objects that change as you move through curved space.
Grossmann didn't just point Einstein to the math. He taught it to him.
Page after page of Einstein's ""Zurich Notebook""—where he developed general relativity—shows Grossmann's name next to key mathematical insights.
Grossmann introduced Einstein to the Riemann curvature tensor. The Ricci tensor. Covariant differentiation.
These weren't just formulas. They were the language Einstein needed to express his revolutionary physics.
In 1913, Einstein and Grossmann co-authored a groundbreaking paper:
""Outline of a Generalized Theory of Relativity and of a Theory of Gravitation""
Einstein wrote the physics section. Grossmann wrote the mathematics section.
It wasn't the final version—Einstein wouldn't complete general relativity until 1915—but it was a critical step.
And it only existed because Grossmann had the mathematical expertise Einstein lacked.
Think about that for a moment.
Without Grossmann, Einstein might have spent years—maybe a lifetime—searching for the right mathematics.
Or he might have given up entirely.
Instead, Grossmann gave him the tools. The framework. The mathematical foundation for one of the most profound scientific theories ever conceived.
Here's what makes this story so powerful:
Grossmann could have been resentful. Einstein skipped classes while Grossmann attended diligently. Einstein was becoming famous while Grossmann remained in academia.
Instead, Grossmann helped. Twice.
First as a student, lending his notes so Einstein could pass exams.
Then as a professor, teaching Einstein the mathematics that would reshape our understanding of the universe.
And Grossmann did all this knowing he'd never get the glory.
In the 1913 paper, Grossmann explicitly stated: he would take no responsibility for the physical interpretations. He was there for the mathematics.
Einstein would get the Nobel Prize. The fame. The immortality.
Grossmann would get a footnote in history—known mainly as ""Einstein's mathematician friend.""
He didn't seem to mind.
There's more to Grossmann's generosity.
When Einstein graduated in 1900, he couldn't find academic work. He sent letters to universities across Europe. No one hired him.
It was Grossmann's father who helped Einstein get his job at the Swiss Patent Office in Bern—the job that gave Einstein time to develop his revolutionary theories.
Later, it was Grossmann who helped negotiate Einstein's return to Zurich as a professor in 1912.
Einstein dedicated his 1905 doctoral thesis—the same year he published his miraculous papers on relativity, the photoelectric effect, and Brownian motion—to:
""My friend Dr. Marcel Grossmann.""
Grossmann died in 1936 at age 58, from multiple sclerosis.
Einstein lived until 1955, long enough to see general relativity confirmed again and again.
But Einstein never forgot.
In 1955, the year of his own death, Einstein wrote about Grossmann:
""With this problem in mind, I visited my old student friend Marcel Grossmann, who in the meantime had become Professor of Mathematics... He caught fire immediately... He was indeed quite ready to collaborate on the problem with me.""
Today, the community of relativists honors Grossmann by organizing the Marcel Grossmann Meetings every three years—international conferences on general relativity and gravitation.
His name lives on in the field he helped create.
Here's the lesson:
Behind every genius, there's often someone quietly supporting them.
With notes when they're students.
With expertise when they're stuck.
With patience when they need teaching.
Einstein changed physics. But he couldn't have done it without the math.
And he couldn't have learned the math without Grossmann.
Marcel Grossmann: Born April 9, 1878. Died September 7, 1936.
Mathematician. Professor. Friend.
The man who took notes so Einstein could pass exams.
The man who taught Einstein the language of curved spacetime.
The man who made general relativity possible.
Not all heroes wear capes. Some just take really good notes.
And sometimes, those notes change the universe.
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Posted by 18h
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